Goldie Blue

ALL.THE.TIME! Actually last night I had a nightmare, totally thought it was real. I have these disgusting rhabdocoela worms in my newest tank, and I dreamt they were all over my pillows, but the dream felt real like I was awake. In my own bed and all. Yeeeesh. 🤢 I also have dreams my fish (especially Goldie Blue) have died quite frequently. Mainly because I have had so much illness with him. But I have also had dreams where I wake up to a fully stocked, beautifully planted aquarium that was somehow mine. I guess that is my subconsciousness projecting my goals lol.

@Biotope Biologist Thank you for the ID! GB has been recovering from fin rot that was pretty bad a few months back, he lost an entire piece of his tail at one point. The areas of concern are at the very bottom where there are red spots. His fins are translucent but have been doing much better lately. He is starting to lose his color again, it's been flip flopping like this for months. When he is what appears to be healthy, he looks like my profile pic. When he is stressed he turns almost totally yellow/white. Any input/suggestions are more than welcome! @nabokovfan87 I have the Poly Filter in the tank, but can't tell what is happening as it's very dark in the back of the chamber. I figure I will pull it out tomorrow morning and check the color.

You're exactly right about this, that is why it is so sad, because on paper I have done/am doing everything I should be. I really thought he was getting better, now here we are again. And this time I can't put it on the flow in the bigger tank 😞 Yeah, and GB is the only one in that tank, no snails or anything, wanted to keep stress low and rule out a lot of things. So I really hope these worms aren't harmful. He has been off meds since before he even went into the Flex, and before he was in QT tank...trying to think how long it's been but it's at least 2 months. He has been on light dose of salt and IAL (heavy dosing of IAL) ever since. I do have carbon, and I also have a Poly Filter my LFS said was good for purifying water. It's not in there right now, but it can be. The Flex has not been medicated with anything other than salt and IAL. Ooof that is a tall order 🤣 my poor 55 gallon only has 6 fish in it, and (fingers crossed) has been problem free for months now lol.

Yeah when I had detritus worms in the 55 gallon, they were much, much bigger than these. That is why I placed my finger next to it for size ref, upon looking closer I could see a dozen or maybe more crawling all over the glass, but from afar you wouldn't ever catch it. They are also flying around the water. So disgusting! As I mentioned before, this tank is in a bad location, so this might be a good time to move it and do a big clean. I thought I would love the ease of this Flex, but that back panel area is actually a total pain to clean and service. Since this is fine sand substrate I am not sure how well this will work. I am half temped to just remove all the sand and let this tank be bare floor. The plants in there are attached to moveable stuff, so I don't need to have any. I am wondering if this sand caused irritation on his fins again, since it's at the bottom tips that drag along the floor of things. I am going to Aquashella this weekend, maybe I can pick some brains there on the issue. All I know is I am so tired of feeling like I take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I need to decide if I want to move him to medicate him or not, but I think the Neoplex is my next step for sure. I just want this guy to be happy and healthy and I keep bombarding him with meds and salt 😞

Tank parameters: Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 10 pH - 8.0 (always this high) Temp - 80 Medications already used: Med trio (1 round of treatment) Kanaplex in food Jungle Fungus Clear (2 full rounds of treatment) Level 1 aquarium salt dosing in QT tank for 3 weeks IAL It's been months of on and off treatment for my poor Goldie Blue, thinking he is getting better and then he gets fin rot again. Quick background for anyone who has not been following my saga, he was in a 55g tank when the fin rot first started. He had started to develop fin rot in that tank, and the entire tank went through the med trio (about 8 months ago) due to another issue. Then about 4-5 months ago I treated the whole tank with 2 full doses/rounds of Jungle Fungus Clear along with feeding Kanaplex in food. From there he looked like he was improving but then a few weeks later a chunk of his tail fell off, and I ended up taking him out of his 55g into a QT tank where he was on level 1 aquarium salt dosing for about 3 weeks. He showed great improvement, and I moved him into his own Fluval Flex 9 once it had cycled. I've been loading the Flex with IAL, so dark you can barely see in there (seep leaves in hot water, then add the leaf and tea to water) and then it was advised that maybe his floaty log could be causing issues. Over the course of the last 2 weeks I have fully replaced his XL log (which was his FAVORITE place ever) with 2 smooth black tubes I got on Etsy, a SeeShelter which was already in there, and a kind of plastic "log" enclosure that seems like all the edges are smooth when I run my fingers on the insides. I'm attaching pics of these new items to get your thoughts. After looking closer at the logs, they sure as heck had splits and grooves and rough edges inside. There are two java ferns I have attached to glass cups on the bottom. That is all that is in his new tank, no decorations with sharp edges. He will stick himself between the glass and the tubes from time to time, but I don't see how this might hurt his fins. The bottom tips of them are bloody and ragged again, and now today I noticed the black sand substrate I have in his tank is sticking to the bottom areas of his fins. How should I proceed? Take him out into QT tank again? Treat his whole tank? Should I remove the sand substrate completely? Could the sand have caused the irritations and fin rot? On top of all this now I see tiny white worms all over the glass and water column in his new tank. I am hoping these are detritus worms, but figure I'd try to get a pic and see what you guys think. I am so sad and feel defeated, I just want my sweet boy to feel better. He's the best fish ever.

Nerites put in some serious work, they will keep your tank spotless. I only have 1 in my 10 gallon and there isn't any algae at all, and I used to struggle with it before I got my little dude.

This is absolutely amazing. Please let us know when you have everything set up. I definitely want to get on your commission list to have my betta boys drawn. DM me or tag me pretty please! Don't doubt yourself, if this is just a preview of what you can do, you'll kill it!

Here is the issue I am really wondering about. So my other betta has fin rot now, and it's gotten pretty bad. My tap water is between 2.0 -3.0 ppm ammonia out of the tap when I test with the master kit, and a few other members here have suggested the water has high chloramines. I have been testing my water after water change day, after dosing with Prime and I'll still get a reading of about 0.25 ppm ammonia in his particular tank. I tried to set up a QT tank, with a cycled sponge filter that was sitting in my established tank for two and a half months, and I could not get the ammonia in the QT tank down past 2.0. So I am salting him in his tank now and hoping that my plants don't die. I should probably make a separate post about this, but to say I am frustrated is an understatement. In theory I do everything right, yet these two bettas are still having issues. Everything you read is "clean water" for fin rot, I am religious with my water changes, I did them even when I was laid out with covid. If my water itself is not clean though, that could be an issue. I am honestly thinking about getting an RO system and am now stressed out about how I can somehow mess that up too.

Oh wow, that is crazy! It certainly isn't cheap, I have it on Amazon subscribe and save because I go through about a whole tub of it a month. Most dermatologists I have seen recommend that for sensitive skin, it's crazy how some people just react to certain products.

This LFS specializes in saltwater and reefs, I am not sure where the Brightwell stuff fits into that because I have 0 experience with that world. She knew I was having issues with my bettas and fin rot (and now my other betta is in bad shape!) I am just super hesitant to try something new with my tanks while I am still having issues I am trying to control. I think I was just mostly taken aback with how disgusted she was by Seachem Prime. It was the first I had heard of this product being spoke of in a negative way.

Same. I hate when water gets into them, just totally freaks me out. I also scrub up because I wear a lot of lotion and/or scented sprays etc on my arms that I don't want to get into the tanks. My hands feel really dry after water change day, I have 4 tanks but the 55 gallon has me up to my armpits. I usually use Gold Bond Ultimate healing with aloe for my hands, but I use the CeraVe cream in the tub for my arms/body. I break out in really bad hives (seen countless docs, no idea why) and that is one of the only creams/lotions that seems to keep things in check. I am very excited to try this out, just ordered some.

I'll be there Saturday with my kiddo and bestie! I'd LOVE to meet up with some of my Aquarium Co Op friends! If there is any kind of before or after dinner/event please tag me. I am so excited, this will be my first Aquashella event.

I was at my local fish store today, and the employee there was non stop trashing Seachem Prime (which was one of the things I was in there to pick up today). I guess they have permission to white label BrightWell Aquatics Erase-CL, and sell it as their own product with their own label. She said the only reason they still carry Prime is because customers always ask for it, but this product is much better. So I bought some of the miracle juice, and I am here to ask your experiences with it. Everything I have been told about the hobby is that Prime is "the" best product. The employee said Prime is good for first starting a cycle but after that it's not useful, and that it has a bunch of unnecessary stuff in it. I've looked for ingredients for both products and it seems both just say it's a proprietary blend. It's got great reviews online, so if you have experience with this product please give me your input.

Yes, the dark water/tannins from IAL are safe for snails. I currently have both my betta tanks so dark with IAL tea that you can hardly see anything and my snails are chugging along happily. Buy the Indian almond leaves on Amazon or in bulk, and put 1 or 2 big leaves in some hot water (I use the hot setting from my 5 gallon water cooler in a big glass and let it sit about 2 hours). It's way more efficient than using those Dark Water drops. You need a lot of it in there to make a difference. Dump the leaves that seeped in the tank as well. As far as a sponge vs HOB I have no idea honestly. I have 4 different filters in all of my tanks, and it seems to work in all of them the same 🤷‍♀️ As for the constipation, have you tried giving him peas? You have to take the skin off of it, but I have heard it's really good for bettas that have issues. The Garlic Guard helps my picky betta, you just add a few drops onto the food and mix it around. If you use a frozen pea, just drop it in a cup of water for about 5-10 seconds, take the skin off, cut it in half. You could try mashing it into a paste with the Garlic Guard and seeing if he will eat it. I'd also try feeding him directly into his mouth with a pipette if he hesitates. I have to feed my pick one like that and basically chase him down to eat lol.

That is a great idea. I want to eventually move this tank somewhere more convenient (it's up on a bar that passes between my kitchen and main family room) but I was in a panic when I set it up wanting to move Goldie Blue right away. I have to turkey baste my axolotl's #2 out of her tank lol, I'll order another one specifically for GB's Flex. I had to stand on a stool to do the filter stuff and water changes. One problem, one day at a time though 🤣

That chamber you have circled in red comes empty out of the box. I had stuck the black foam cut to size in the hole and had it in there for the last week. When I did my water change yesterday I took it out (for curiosity really) because I wanted to see how well the filtration works and how dirty that chamber was. The foam just smelled strongly of mildew/pond scum. So that was really my concern/question. Not sure if that is normal, especially for the foam only being in there a week. That chamber is a B to work with too, I put this tank in a not so great spot to be reaching around behind that wall that separates the tank from the filtration behind it lo.

Yeah, the suction and flow isn't "terrible" especially after putting the prefilter sponges on the tubes at the top, but it's enough for his dumb butt to stick to. And given what we have gone through to get him where he is right now in the last few months, I really don't want him doing anything to set himself back. Literal laughing out loud at this lol.

Absolutely! He did this in his old tank before he had major fin rot, and my other betta in my 10g did it until I covered the intake. This Flex tank is just set up in a weird way, the solution isn't as simple as it should be. I am pretty sure that is a mod from LidPropz, right? That part isn't an issue for me, I stuck two prefilter sponges on the flow bar and it fixed that right away. It's that stupid vent on the bottom left of the tank. I felt like the tank wasn't getting enough filtration when I had the black sponge foam in the chamber behind it, and when I pulled it out after a week it smelled strong of like that pond-mildew smell. You don't notice any filtration issues having that vent blocked off?

I've actually already got that exact setup for him already, it's the little intake thing on the bottom left that I am having an issue with. He keeps sticking himself on there, despite the fact he has a jumbo sized log, SeeShelter, and plants to sit in lol. He spends a lot of his time in his super sized log, but then when he goes cruising he likes to go stick himself on that intake.

Hmm, I am pretty sure that piece he keeps getting stuck on pops off somehow, though I wonder if it would fit back in with nylons over it. It's situated on a big black plastic "wall" that covers the back of the tank. I wonder if anyone else has tried this with this model! Thank you for your reply!

I have looked around at a few modification videos for Fluval Flex tanks, but I wanted to ask the community personally. Because apparently Goldie Blue likes to keep me on the edge of my seat, he is feeling much better and cruising all around his new Flex 9, and has taken to sticking himself to the bottom left intake. Obviously he is still recovering from his fin rot, so I don't want him doing stupid stuff like this. I had a piece of black foam in the slot behind there for a week or so, but it smelled really mildew-y (is that even a word??) when I took it out to see how it was looking. I have some filter floss on hand, as well as some blue sponge stuff. If anyone knows a good way to mod this tank so he stops sticking himself on there, please share. This fish is going to give me a stroke lol.

Just saw that Amazon Prime has the API Test kits on a pretty hefty sale for Prime Day if anyone needs it, good time to stock up. Limited-time deal for Prime Members: API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit, White, Single, Multi-colored https://a.co/d/2X5CIsp

Sure, not the clearest but here are some pics!

I had two hitchhikers on my plants that I bought a year and a half ago when I established my 55 gallon tank. Now, the tank is filled with them, and I'd really rather have some nerites in there instead. How can I get rid of them humanely and be sure they are gone for good (I don't want to kill them). I know two places they lay eggs and have been brushing those off each week with my water change. Will this tank ever be safe to add nerites to, or will it always be infested with assassin snails?

You might be a NERM if your kids summer camp is having "aquarium" day and you want to tell the camp leader to step aside so you can drop the real knowledge on those kiddos.